French Air Force Mirage 2000D 'Couteau Delta'

The Couteau Delta tactical display, one of the French Air Force's numerous demonstration teams, flies two examples of the Dassault Mirage 2000D strike aircraft. First flown in 1978, the Mirage 2000 has been in service with the Armée de l'Air since the early 1980s, in fighter and conventional strike versions as well as the nuclear-capable 2000N, which forms part of the backbone of France's Forces Aériennes Stratégiques (Strategic Air Forces), and the 2000D, which performs conventional attack missions. This version serves solely with France; other customers for the Mirage 2000 are Egypt, Greece, India, Peru, Qatar, the Republic of China and the UAE. It remains a highly manoeuvrable and effective combat aircraft, and has seen extensive operational use with the French Air Force in its different variants, not least over Iraq, the Balkans, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria. Formed prior to the 2017 season, the Couteau Delta team comes from Escadrons de Chasse 2/3 'Champagne' and 3/3 'Ardennes' at Nancy-Ochey and returns again to RIAT 2018.